Limitless Profits
The Obama administration plans to use the huge government purchasing power to encourage private companies to improve wages and incentives for millions of workers, according to White House officials and interest groups interested in the plan permit.
With the huge contracts awarded to companies each year, which amounts to 500 billion size, management will try to deprive companies that violate workers' rights and the environment, and will provide incentives for companies that offer the best levels of wages and health coverage, pensions and other services. Because one out of every four American workers work for a company linked contracts are with the federal government, administration officials see the plan in a way to formulate social policy and lift more families into the middle class. And so on will affect
Contracts such as those given to making clothes for the army and government buildings non-polluting and mow lawns at military bases.
Although details have not been disclosed until now for the continuation of work on the drafting of the plan, the outline has seen strong opposition from business and Republican lawmakers, who see the Limitless Profits plan Gift organized labor, and they say it will lead to higher government spending, which faces a budget deficit estimated by 1 0.3 trillion dollars.

Said Ben Berbak, director of labor and employment in the Union contractors and construction companies, which represents 25 thousand companies linked to the construction sector «I am skeptical towards the objectives of the plan, it seems clear that it is seeking to give unions an advantage in government contracts».

A number of critics that the new plan would cause losses for small businesses, which do not offer a lot of them large incentives. Moreover, Alan Limitless Profits illustrates, executive vice president of the Professional Services Council, a consortium of 340 government contractors, government officials will have difficulty in assessing applicants for contracts using the new standards, and determine whether the company would be given an incentive compensation agreement.

President Obama has called for since the early days of taking office in the White House review of government contracting policy, pointing out that the contracts the previous contract scandal included exaggerated and has contracts expenses without submitting tenders.

He said Bill Burton, spokesman for the White House «The president has made clear that he is committed contractual government to save taxpayer money while protecting workers and the environment. The government now collects data and trying to choose the best ways to implement the plan ».

It should be noted that two of Obama's allies, John Podesta President Clinton's chief of staff, who manage the transition team of President's head, Andy Stern, president of the International Federation of Service Employees, has repeatedly put pressure on the president to use the contract to raise the wages and incentives policy. During his testimony last year before the OMB Limitless Profits said that 400,000 workers were employed in government contracts, such as security guards and workers' canteens workers at sites in federal buildings, earning less than $ 22,000 annually. Which is considered the poverty line for families of four members, assuming the existence of a single breadwinner of the family. Stern said: «President is talking about raising many families into the middle class, so the government should expect contractors comply with the law, and at the same time contractors should not build an economy tiny but they have to build a positive economy». The officials, who were informed that it has developed a plan by officials in the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of the Legal Adviser to the White House and the Ministries of Treasury, Justice, Labor, and the strength of the work of the head of the middle class.

In spite of the pressure on corporate management in order to get more details, they have expressed their rejection of the plan.

And the transfer Limitless Profits site on the fourth of February, the plan «would side to government contractors who implement the policies set by the defenders of workers' rights». For his part, Randall Johnson, vice president of labor at the US Chamber of Commerce plan as «the new version of President Clinton the previous legislation that sought to not awarding contracts to companies with a poor record in violation of workers' rights, the environment and the laws of the consumer, abolished by former President George W. Bush soon after he took Authority". Johnston added: «strongly opposed legislation blacklist carried out by the Clinton administration, and the new plan looks worse than its predecessor».

Also sent Senator Susan Collins and four senators Republican Other members of the Senate on the fourth of February message to Peter
Limitless Profits director of the White House budget office said it «We are concerned that causes the imposition of these conditions, at a time when the economy is suffering from a recession in the sector private and governmental budget replete burdens, to serious negative consequences, particularly for small businesses ».

Tom Coburn is a signatory to the letter (R-Oklahoma), was the second of two supporters, the other is Senator Barack Obama, the law seeks to increase transparency and accountability for government contractors. President Bush has signed a law in 2007, and sees David Madland, director of American workers project in the Center for American Progress, the liberal research organization founded by Limitless Profits that the new policy could reduce government costs rather than lifting.

He pointed out that many of the low workers' wages in contracting with the federal government companies vouchers food and health care, and demonstrated that the studies carried out by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Development and the researchers academics, which made it clear that federal contractors who pay their employees well be a reliable and high productivity in while construction work is in companies that violate workers' rights more poor. This policy in favor of workers and taxpayers and positive companies.

Madland and explained that one of the studies conducted by the state of Maryland, found that following the request of the state government from the companies pay salary ration the number of companies applying rose by a third. And that some companies are offering high wages, they said they have begun to apply for government contracts that the new policy paved the way for them. He said a federal official said the proposed policy will encourage contracting officers to favor companies that offer better wages if their choice will not increase substantially the cost of the contract. He gave the example by saying: if the two companies made to hold a $ 10 million, and one offers better wages and pensions better than the other will be chosen this company.

According to some supporters of the plan, and even some opponents, in the new contract policy that the president is able to be imposed through an executive decision. They emphasized that the president has broad powers to legislate contractual, as President John F. Kennedy did, when asked federal contractors to own reward companies for employment plans. But some opponents of the plan say the plan legislation is necessary, because the executive orders that might conflict with laws that require federal contractors to pay prevailing regional wage for the type of work being done by the company. They fear that the resolution calls on the executive for more wages.
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